Featured recipe from Marilu’s table * Oatmeal coconut squares
Make these bars for the holiday weekend and save some for your brown bag lunches.
Freeze the bars individually after they’ve cooled if a whole pan is too many at once.
It’s easy to make the bars vegan with egg replacer, and you can substitute dried cranberries for the chocolate chips if you’d rather skip the chocolate. The maple sugar is expensive, but worth it. Look for it in bulk bins and just buy what you need.
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Oatmeal Coconut Squares with Chocolate Chips
Yellow * Makes 16 squares
5 Tablespoons soy margarine, melted and cooled, plus more for the pan (try Earth Balance margarine)
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (try Tropical Source)
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large organic egg (or equivalent egg replacer, try EnerG)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square metal baking pan with a 12×14-inch piece of aluminum foil, letting the excess hang over the sides. Grease the foil in the pan with margarine.
In a large bowl, toss together the oats, flour, maple sugar, chips, coconut, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the melted margarine, egg (or reconstituted egg replacer) and vanilla with a fork. Stir into the oat mixture until combined. Spoon the batter into the baking pan, patting evenly.
Bake in the middle of the oven until set, about 25 minutes. Remove from the pan by lifting the ends of the foil. Cool on a rack, then cut into squares.
